Letters (correspondence)

The documents in the collection were originally bound in a leather book embossed with the title "Autograph Letters and Documents Relating to American Jewish History." As of April 2023, the AJHS has not discovered how or why donated Rosenbach materials were removed and placed in the bound volume. Notes found in the collection of documents include several items that were removed for exhibitions and never returned to the book. The earliest of these notes is from 1937, indicating that the volume was created prior to that year. In 2023, the documents were removed from the bound book by the Cahnman Preservation Laboratory at the Center for Jewish History and digitized by the staff of the American Jewish Historical Society. The documents were then ingested into the Center's digital management system and are now viewable to the public.

The collection holds various documents from prominent members of Jewish society in the 18th and 19th centures, plus some advertisements and book pages. Documents relate to the American Revolution and tariffs; American Revolution pensions; politics between Whig and Democratic issues during the 1840s; other correspondence and items published from pamphlets promoting books or schools.

The collection documents the work of Carl Misch (1896-1965), a German journalist who immigrated to the United States, via France during the Second World War. The bulk of this collection consists of clippings of articles, opinion pieces, and nonfiction book reviews that he contributed to various German-language publications while living first in Germany (1921-1933) and then abroad (1936-1965). As a prominent émigré intellectual, many of the clippings and correspondence that Misch collected cover the lives, work, emigration, and death of numerous Germans living in exile. The collection includes correspondences, clippings, and manuscripts relating to the academic works in the fields of history and political science that he published during his tenure at at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. A small selection of materials are about Misch himself; these items include clippings, photographs, official documents, and obituaries.

The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence to Hendricks & Brothers, 1833[?]-1851. Also included are business cards from various Hendricks-Tobias family enterprises, correspondence to Harmon Hendricks, and correspondence to several members of the Tobias family.

Judah P. Benjamin, called the "brains of the Confederacy", was a statesman and jurist in the United States, the Confederate States, and Great Britain. Benjamin achieved high-ranking titles wherever he served, and left an indelible mark in the South where he held more official positions than any other man during the Civil War. After the fall of the Confederacy, Benjamin fled to England, where he was admitted to the English bar, and later assumed a judgeship. In 1872, he was appointed the highest ranking of Queen's counselor.

This collection contains correspondence; letters; newspaper clippings; Confederate bank notes and bonds; Civil War memorabilia; pamphlets; and a bound copy of Benjamin's diary, kept from 1862-1864. These materials are of particular interest to researchers studying the activities and experiences of Jews in the antebellum South and under the brief reign of the Confederate States of America. Additionally, through the material relating to memorials and preservation endeavors for Benjamin, the collection also provides a look at the continued glorification of Confederate heroes in the South long into the twentieth century. The collection also contains pre-Civil War correspondence between Benjamin and Peter A. Hargous regarding the creation of a railroad line on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico and the Tehuantepec Railroad Company of New Orleans.

The Territorial Collection Poland 1 is comprised of documents that were amassed at the YIVO in New York City. The Collection is of a mixed provenance and fragmentary nature. The commonality between the documents contained within this collection is that they all pertain to Jews in Poland prior to 1939. Documents of earlier years are also included. Collection consists of letters, essays, reports, correspondence, and clippings which pertain to the political situation, economic conditions, and cultural activities of Polish Jews.

The Territorial Collection, Poland 2 is comprised of documents that were amassed at the YIVO in New York City. The collection is of mixed provenance and is fragmentary in nature, consisting of miscellaneous materials dating back to World War II and its immediate aftermath. The Territorial Collection Poland 2 is a portion of the greater Territorial Collection (RG 116), which incorporates materials that are relevant to over 42 different countries and geographical regions. The overarching theme of the collection Poland 2 is the annihilation of the Jewish life in Poland under the Nazi rule. Chronologically, the Territorial Collection Poland 2 follows the Territorial Collection Poland 1, which pertains to pre-World War II Poland; and precedes the Territorial Collection Poland 3, which pertains to post-World War II Poland.